CHENNAI: Divya Kakran won all her four bouts in the round-robin format to win gold in the Asian Championships in February. It was a special occasion both for the country and the wrestler.
The gold was India’s second in the history of the meet since the introduction of women’s wrestling in 1996. It was also Divya’s first top class display after a lean patch of around six months.
The win must have boosted the 22-year-old confidence for the Olympic Qualifier but the coronavirus pandemic played spoilsport. The subsequent lockdown restricted athletes’ movements, impacting their training schedule to a great extent.
Kakran, who competes in the 68kg weight category, however, acted promptly to ensure she stayed near her foreign coach. “The lockdown was imminent and I decided to move closer to my foreign coach Vladimir Mestvirishvili a few days before the government’s decision. I rented a place in his locality in the national capital.
The move means I can train under his guidance every day,” the Delhi wrestler told this daily. Kakran has been training under the Georgian coach since 2017.
The former India’s foreign coach decided to stay back even as others left the country in the wake of the outbreak. “Despite working out twice a day, I can only do 60 per cent of what I used to do in normal days. But then, it’s always better to do something than doing nothing,” the woman grappler added. Mat practice means a lot to any wrestler and Kakran is missing it as she cannot indulge in bouts even with her sparring partner.
“My sparring partner is with me but it is not possible to have bouts with her. It’s worrisome but then you cannot do anything as the priority is to deal with the disease, which has claimed so many lives across the globe. But I am doing a lot of physical exercises including power training. Forty days is a long period and I hope normalcy returns soon.”
Postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, however, has given the wrestler hopes. “Now we have a year to get back to the shape. Once the lockdown is lifted, I can train with more intensity to ensure I give my best in the Olympic qualifier to make the cut,” she concluded.